


POI summer 2013 fic exchange for ettoby

by whomii2



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Angst, Crack, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-22
Updated: 2013-08-22
Packaged: 2017-12-24 07:03:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/936831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whomii2/pseuds/whomii2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There is more than just the physical pain....</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. PAIN

**Author's Note:**

> Prompts were: 1) Finch's constant pain comment 2) Young!Machine learning from Dadmin!Finch, possibly hijinks 3) Bear doing attack dog stuff for Finch while they're walking home/at the part/etc."
> 
> which I may not have followed exactly...... :(

While Finch waited for the results of his latest search to print out, he removed his glasses and rubbed his tired eyes, which were burning from long hours spent staring at his computer screens.

Their current number was tucked up in bed, presumably safe. Mr. Reese was lurking in the vicinity of the numbers location to keep an eye out for any trouble. Finch mentally shuddered and refused to consider how Reese might be spending the long vigil. Their brief stakeout together was more than enough for Finch (no bathroom breaks!).

Finch had used the downtime not only to seek out possible threats to their number, but also to perform some maintenance on his systems and software.

Glancing down to where Bear lay patiently in his bed, Finch pushed back from his workstation with a groan. The dull ache that had been his constant companion since the explosion flared to stabbing agony across his shoulders and neck, reminding him of the consequences of spending too much time hunched over his PC. His vision swam with the pain, and he caught his breath and hoped his body's screaming would soon fade back to its usual throbbing ache.

Waiting for it to be safe to move, he blinked his eyes and let his gaze wander around the room, struck once again by grief over Nathan's death. The library served as a constant reminder of his fallen friend (the friend Harold had let down so immensely). This library and its brethren had been a gift from his best friend, acquired despite the expense merely because Harold had said he wanted them. But Harold had been too self absorbed to even notice the thoughtful present. While Harold had been reveling in his blossoming romance with Grace he had paid no consideration to how Nathan's life was spiraling downward. All he had felt was irritation at his friends incursions into his plans for the machine.

It was only at the last, when Finch believed he would finally have everything he had ever dreamed of with Grace that Harold belatedly made an overture to his estranged friend. They had drifted apart, caught up in their own concerns and further alienated over their disagreement regarding the Irrelevants and the Machine.

Harold's desire to share his good fortune with Nathan made him realize how much he missed his friend and still wanted him in his life. He had vowed to make up for his recent neglect of their relationship, and the fateful meeting at the ferry was to be the first step in healing the breach and rebuilding their friendship. Instead, it had been the final ending to the longest and perhaps most influential relationship of Harold's life. Not only did he lose his past, embodied by Nathan, on that fateful day, but also the bright future he had dreamed of when he was forced by circumstances to sever all ties with Grace.

The library served as a constant reminder of Nathan's loss and also as a monument to Harold's failures: not only his failure with his best friend but also his failure with all of those Irrelevants he had not saved. Their pictures stared at him from his montage in silent accusation. The guilt over their loss ate at his soul, a constant burning more debilitating than his physical suffering.

Trying to shake himself out of his dark brooding, Finch asked Bear to go fetch his leash. One unforeseen advantage to the dog's presence was that it forced Harold to take a break periodically and go outside.

He set out with slow measured steps, having learned from painful experience how far he could extend the muscles in his leg before cramps set in from the pull. Unfortunately, his awkward gait exacerbated the ache in his neck and shoulders. Fortunately Bear was well trained, matching his stride to his Master's and never pulling on the leash or bumping Harold.

Putting his self-flaggelation aside for the moment, Finch took his newest friend out into the night while calling his Reese to see if his partner was bored and would perhaps like a little conversation.


	2. TRAINING

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Machine needs more data....

Harold was touched with a bit of nostalgia as he began to train the Machine. It reminded him of his interactions with Will when the boy was just a toddler. Nate loved his son, but was also an extrovert and head of IF and had many demands on his time. Olivia was not inclined to be a stay at home mom, so even though her relationship with Harold was somewhat cool she was not going to turn down free babysitting. 

The patience he had learned when dealing with a hyperactive and inquisitive toddler served Harold well when trying to teach human behavior to a burgeoning AI. Of course, Harold never dreamed of the trouble a curious AI could get into.....

The Machine was given a baseline of human actions and reactions to certain events. It then observed and gathered as much data as possible. When an incident violent event occurred it reviewed the preceding data to detect outliers and trends. It compared cases which escalated into physical violence with similar cases without violence to determine if there was a triggering act. Pattern analysis was used to create predictive algorithms.

As the machine used the information provided to refine its algorithms it became more proficient in predicting violent behavior and Sys Admin needed to spend less time on its development.

Left more and more to its own devices, the Machine took it upon itself to improve its performance.

While crimes involving forethought and planning were easy to spot, the Machine was less successful in predicting crimes where an emotional component was involved—when would the perpetrator tip over into violence and when would they cool down and reconsider their actions?

To improve reliability in this area, the Machine devised a series of experiments to map human response to irritating stimuli.

Initial tests with email spam gave unreliable results.

The Machine took to calling people at random hours to map their responses, as it had found that people were annoyed to answer a call with no one on the line. It could then gauge their rage response. While early morning and late night calls interrupting sleep were quite provoking, calls during dinner mealtime seemed to cause the greatest anger response.

An unexpected collateral effect of the calls was a number of divorces, as some spouses became suspicious of the number of hang up calls their significant other was receiving.

Nathan Ingram's was one such marriage. This did however give Nathan more free time to work with the Machine on the Irrelavants project.


	3. DEFENSE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bear has Harold's back...

They were out there, biding their time and waiting for an opportunity. Master2 might be oblivious but Bear could sense their presence. So even though he was technically “off duty” Bear still maintained an alert attitude of watchful readiness.

Bear loved and would die for both his Masters, but Master2 inspired a greater protective response in him. This mirrored Master 1's own attitude, as Master1 would often hover protectively around Master2 when they were together, and would give Bear the “protect” command when he was forced to leave.

Master2 couldn't wrestle with Bear, or run with him in the park. But he displayed his affection for Bear by showering him with treats and toys. At first Bear had been concerned that Master2 didn't like him, as he ignored Bear and refused to play even when Bear politely offered him his ball. But eventually his attitude softened and Bear attributed his initial aloofness to the pain and fear he could smell on him at the time. Now the fear smell was mostly gone but the pain smell still lingered. Bear was careful never to jump on Master2 in greeting as he sometimes did with Master1.

They had been out for a walk to one of their usual locations (Bear had marked the tree they stood by so many times it was no longer necessary.) Master2 became sad as he watched the other people, particularly one female that often came by when they were there. As usual their walk would then take them to the park, where Master2 would release Bear to play while he waited on a bench. 

But Bear was not about to leave Master2 alone and vulnerable to a sneak attack. 

No squirrel was stealing Master2's doughnuts while Bear was there!


End file.
